Do you try out local restaurants when you travel?

I will say that in the tiny little town where dh's family lives, there is a very highly rated gastropub. We plan to try it when we visit in August.

I love to try popular local restaurants when I travel.  Some of the best meals I've ever had were at local regional restaurants.  When we were on a cruise vacation in the Caribbean, on each new island, we would ask the cab driver where their family went to celebrate an event and would try that restaurant instead of eating at the touristy places. We had some of the most memorable meals on that trip.  The ship's food wasn't all that great, but the various island restaurants were amazing.

Usually anyone I travel with is also happy to try local popular spots.  Years ago, I was in Nebraska with my at-that-time fiancé to visit his mother.  While driving through town, I saw a fast food place called Runza.  I said we should try it, just for the heck of it.  My fiancé absolutely refused to eat at a place called Runza. Nothing I could say would persuade him.  Sure, I agreed it was an unfortunate choice of name, but that didn't mean we would automatically get sick from eating there and I was feeling playfully curious.  Plus, we were in the town for over a week and had run out of new places to try.  There wasn't a lot of choice in that town, and several meals were already determined by his mom wanting to eat at her favorite haunts.  I figured one lunch at a Runza wouldn't be a big deal.  We never ate there.

Runzas are delicious, they are ground beef, cheese, cabbage and onion stuffed and baked in a delicious bread.   You should make them and serve them and don’t tell him what they are called until afterwards.  

Yes, some of the best meals out I have had have been from random choices when on vacation. Then I get home and I'm so sad I can't have the tasty food again!

No, we actually stick with chains. I feel it's a desire to have food we know and are comfortable with. I'm sure we miss out on some great gastronomic experiences but we don't miss what we don't know about.

That sounds delicious!  It sounds like a cabbage roll inside a sandwich.  I love cooked cabbage.  My dad used to make cabbage rolls all the time when I was growing up.  When I would get a craving, I made cabbage roll soup because it was faster.  Yum!  If I were alone on that trip, I absolutely would have gone there.  The fiance was weird about trying anything different or new. He refused to go there just based on the name, not even knowing what kind of food they served.  And I broke off the engagement, so no serving him anything anymore.

Yes and I review them on Yelp. Been reviewing San Antonio and coastal California eateries this week.

I agree! We visit TX usually every year to see DH's sister and brother. I don't think Whataburger is that great. They've taken us to some great little places.

I had never heard of them until DH brought me. I couldn't try them because I don't eat beef, but found a recipe online and substituted ground turkey. I now have to make 2 different kinds when I make them: ground turkey, mushroom, and mozzarella and ground turkey, pickles, and cheddar. If it's just DH, I could make the "original", but he likes the adaptations. ^.^ I'll have to look up the recipe you suggested and mix it up in autumn.

We try to eat local as much as possible on vacation and at home. There are a few regional chains we love and frequent as well, but we try to stay away from the big national chains mostly because they just aren't as good. We have kids with adventurous palates and our only food allergy is very manageable/easy to avoid. So we are lucky in that. When my kids travel with my family, they get very frustrated with the amount of fast food and chain restaurants they visit because it is so different from what they are used to.
It's definitely about what you like/value. My husband is a trained chef and has converted me and raised our kids to be foodies. We always have a list of local restaurants ready where ever we go. We made a quick 2 hour drive yesterday to get a replacement title to sell my car and found a local place for lunch while we were there.

I use ground turkey, I will pea mail the recipe because it might be behind a paywall.  

Absolutely. Our rule is to not eat at any place that we can get at home unless it is a quick on the road meal. We try to avoid chains, unless they are small local chains. 

The only must stop restaurant when I travel is to Cracker Barrel but it’s not for the food. I stock up on the hard candy sticks because I can get them in a variety of flavors. Those say “vacation” to me.

Locals know the best places to eat and the places to avoid. You can have chain food at home.